


Two Can Keep A Secret

by bisexualbarry



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Cheating, Emotional Manipulation, M/M, Minor Violence, One-Sided Relationship, Smut, minor gore, oliver is a bad guy, the smut isnt important to the plot, ugh tagging is hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-07-02 10:00:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15794220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bisexualbarry/pseuds/bisexualbarry
Summary: ...if one of them is dead.Barry fell hard for the mysterious cop, and didn't think too much of it when Oliver didn't want to tell him too much about his life.Too bad his trusting nature would be his downfall.





	Two Can Keep A Secret

**Author's Note:**

> hi, im really bad at both tagging and summaries!!
> 
> jkfds this is something that took ages to write, but i had a blast writing it. it's based off a show i watched like a year ago, so details are fuzzy. but i took decent notes, so while there will be some obvious differences, it shouldn't be too bad (if you've seen the show, otherwise you probably dont care, lol)
> 
> also thank you revel for beta'ing this!! ~~without the smut, for you, ofc~~ , youre my favorite
> 
> anyway, enjoy!!

Iris had promised that the party wouldn’t be too loud.

Barry himself didn’t care much for parties, but Iris had been invited to a really big one, and wanted Barry to come along. Barry had a habit of staying in the small house he was renting than go out. In fact, it was one of his two roommates, Ronnie, who had called Iris worriedly. Barry liked staying in and studying, and while that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, all the people he knew were concerned.

So the large house was where he soon found himself.

The party was being hosted by Thea Queen, a big name on campus thanks to her parents’ money. She always threw the largest parties and invited almost everyone on campus. Thea and Iris had grown close recently, so when Thea personally invited her, Iris, of course, dragged her best friend along.

Even from outside, the bass from the music was so loud, it made Barry’s ears ring. His chest thuds along with the rhythm. With or without alcohol, Barry would have a headache in the morning. The grip on his wrist didn’t lessen as he was quickly dragged  inside and amongst the mass amount of bodies. There were people everywhere, and even though Barry didn’t have claustrophobia, he was still finding it difficult to breathe as he was pressed against all the bodies. Alcohol was set up in the kitchen, various different drinks and possible concoctions you could make with all the different available drinks. Barry grabbed a cup and made himself something simple before slipping into a more open spot.

Iris had already abandoned him in favor of greeting Thea and mingling with all the single guys there. Barry frowned a little, but didn’t go after her. Iris always had a much better luck with guys than Barry did.

After about an hour, Barry found himself far tipsier than he initially anticipated. Not knowing anybody there, he had found himself drinking more and more and experimenting with everything in the kitchen. Still, though, he was enjoying himself and didn’t really regret getting out of the house.

Suddenly, the sound of sirens was heard over the music. There was a lot of yelling that made Barry’s headache worsen. A couple of cops spilled into the party to break it up. Barry felt a hand on his elbow leading him out, looking to the side to see Iris. She looked more sober than Barry felt. They were stopped by a nearby cop suddenly, and Iris’s hand gripped his arm a little tighter.

“You’re not in trouble,” the officer said, his eyes a bright blue. “I’m just wondering, this was Thea Queen’s party, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” Iris answered. And yes, she was more sober than Barry. Her breath smelled of alcohol, but not as much as Barry’s.

The cop looked at Barry, and Barry froze in his spot. “How old are you?” he asked, looking at Barry closely.

“Twenty,” Barry finally admitted after a moment, keeping an eye on Iris out of the corner of his eye.

“Underage drinking?” the officer said, his tone light. His eyes scanned over Barry again. “I’ll have to escort you home.”

“But-” Iris went to protest, but was silenced by the officer giving her a look.

“It’s okay,” Barry said. “Officer...”

“Jonas.”

“...Officer Jonas here was just doing his job. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Iris didn’t look too happy, and frankly a little suspicious, but she didn’t put up much of a fight as Officer Jonas led Barry back to his car. The party was broken up and people arrested for drugs, so most of the people there were already leaving or gone. Barry wasn’t drunk, but he was rather tipsy, his limbs feeling heavy as he slid into the backseat.

The drive was spent in silence as Barry watched the blond man from his spot. He had a nice jawline that was accented by stubble, and soft looking lips that Barry wanted to either run his fingers over or kiss (his sluggish brain couldn’t decide). The man had a nice set of muscles on him that sent all sort of fantasies running through his head. The uniform he was wearing certainly didn’t help to the images he was thinking of.

When asked, Barry rattled off his address, soon pulling up to the house he shared with Ronnie and Patty. Ronnie was studying at Caitlin’s, and Patty was currently visiting family, leaving the house empty for Barry. Smirking a little and missing the wedding ring on the officer’s left hand, Barry leaned forward.

“You know, officer, if you wanted me alone, all you had to do was ask,” he said, giggling a little. He was never really this flirty when he was more sober, but the officer was hot, and he had alcohol, so he felt a bit more brave.

The older man just chuckled. “You know, if I wanted to push you drinking, I could. But since you’re so close to twenty-one, I just can’t find it in me to do anything.”

Barry climbed out, and he was a bit surprised when the officer did as well. Humming softly, Barry stepped closer. “So, Officer Jonas, what’s your first name?” he asked, his hands settling on the fit chest in front of him. “Mine’s Barry.”

“Oliver,” he replied after a moment, swallowing a little thickly.

“Well, Oliver, I have the place to myself if you’d like to come in. To rest your feet, of course. I imagine you’ve had a long shift,” Barry replied, stepping a little closer. They were the same height, and Barry used that to his advantage. Smirking a little, he leaned forward a bit so their lips brushed together. Oliver put his hands on Barry’s hips and pulled him back a bit.

“Can’t say I’m too fond of PDA,” he said, making Barry grin.

Lacing their fingers together, Barry led him inside the house. Thankfully, he had picked up a bit as he led the officer up to his bedroom. After laying down on the bed, Barry stared up at Oliver, licking his lips as the older man undid his belt.

“I’m weak for a man in uniform,” Barry said, letting his eyes roam slowly over the fit body standing at the edge of his bed. “Can’t say I’m too upset about you being the one to stop me tonight.”

Oliver chuckled softly. “You’re not, like, super drunk, are you? As hot as you are, I can’t have sex with you if you’re not in the right state of mind.”

Blushing, Barry sat up. “I’m tipsy, yes, but the ride over and the fresh air helped. I want this, Oliver.” He unzipped Oliver’s uniform pants and slid them down before mouthing at the bulge in front of him. Oliver’s boxers were tight, leaving little to the imagination as Barry mouthed the fabric.

There were hands tangling in his hair, pulling him back some so he could make eye contact with the older man. “Tell me if you want me to stop,” he breathed out, making Barry’s blush deepen as he nodded.

“I will,” he replied before going back to what he was doing before. Slowly, he peeled off the boxers and waited until Oliver stepped out of them before taking the man’s cock into his hand. He smirked at the moan he received in response, moving his hand slowly to tease Oliver.

“Fuck, Barry,” Oliver murmured, hands tightening in their grip.

“Not a bad idea,” Barry joked before taking the tip of Oliver’s cock into his mouth. Oliver moaned above him, encouraging Barry on. He slowly took the rest of the cock into his mouth until he had it all the way in, causing Oliver to curse under his breath.

Barry bobbed his head for a bit, peering through his eyelashes up at Oliver. At some point, Oliver decided to take off the rest of his clothes, leaving him standing naked in front of Oliver.

“Fuck, Barry, if you don’t stop, I’m going to come before I can fuck you,” he warned, lightly scratching Barry’s scalp.

Barry pulled off, grinning, as he pulled Oliver down for a kiss. Oliver moaned against his lips as he helped the college student out of his clothes. When they were both down to nothing, Barry spread his legs for Oliver to lay between. They kept kissing, rutting against one another in desperation. Barry’s legs were around Oliver’s waist and the latter’s hands had slipped down to cup Barry’s ass.

“Where’s your lube and condoms?” Oliver breathed out, not wanting to move too far away from Barry.

“Um, fuck. I think there’s a thing of condoms in the bathroom.” Barry was struggling to think, needing to close his eyes to concentrate. “Check the nightstand for lube.”

Oliver detached himself away from the lithe body to check where Barry instructed. Soon enough, he was back between Barry’s spread legs, fingers coated with lube. “You’re not a virgin, are you?” Oliver asked, teasing Barry by pressing a finger against the younger’s hole.

“No,” Barry answered, pouting a bit until Oliver slid the finger in.

They lazily kissed as Oliver opened Barry up. Barry was moaning at the feeling of Oliver’s fingers in him, and Oliver was almost having too much fun with it. He was smirking against Barry’s lips, teasing him as much as possible by brushing his prostate before pulling back and avoiding it. Barry was sure he could come from the feeling alone, but he wanted something else in him.

“Oliver, please. I’m clean, I promise,” Barry babbled, grabbing the condom. “Please fuck me.”

“Okay, okay,” Oliver said, chuckling as he grabbed the condom from Barry. After rolling it on, he pressed another kiss to Barry’s lips. “I’m clean, too,” he said before carefully pushing in.

Barry stroked his own cock slowly, getting used to the one sliding in him. He kept lazily kissing Oliver, letting out soft whimpers and moans every so often. Oliver stilled once he was fully inside, making Barry smile against his lips.

“You’re so tight, fuck,” Oliver muttered, causing Barry to giggle.

“Why thank you,” he replied, shifting his hips some. He lightly pinched Oliver’s hip. “You can move now.”

Starting out slowly, Oliver started moving his hips. He kept close to Barry, kissing anywhere on his face as he built up a quicker speed. Barry wasn’t too sure if he’d last too much longer, and he was fairly certain Oliver was in the same predicament. Barry kept a hand on his own cock, stroking it in time with Oliver’s thrusts. Suddenly, he was very glad his roommates were gone for the night. He had a habit of getting loud during sex, and tonight was certainly no different.

It didn’t take too long for Oliver to start hitting his prostate, making Barry cry out. Not much later, Barry was spilling into his hand, crying out Oliver’s name as the man kept thrusting into him. Oliver came not long after, coming into the condom as he rode out both of their highs.

Oliver was soon pulling out and getting up to throw away the condom and grab a dampened rag to clean Barry up with. As soon as Barry was cleaned up, he watched as Oliver pulled on his boxers, a satisfied look on his face.

“Can I have your number?” he asked suddenly, startling Oliver as he was getting dressed.

Oliver paused for a minute, making Barry worry he had said the wrong thing. “I don’t have a cell phone,” he said after a beat.

Barry frowned, but didn’t comment. “Alright then.” He sat up and cocked his head to the side. “How about this: we can continue whatever happened tonight, but there doesn’t necessarily have to any strings attached.”

“And how do you propose we tell each other when it’s okay for a night of sex?” Oliver asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“There’s a lamp downstairs in the front living room. I can put it in the front window, as a way to signal for you. When it’s on, it’s safe to come in, but if it’s off, it’s a no go.”

“Alright. I’ll see you later, Barry,” Oliver said, smiling a little.

“Bye,” Barry replied, biting his bottom lip as he watched Oliver make his way out of the house. Smiling to himself, he chuckled a little to himself before climbing out and making his way into the bathroom to take a shower.

**~*~**

The next month passed slowly for Barry, but never less exciting for him. Any night he could, he would turn on the lamp in the living room and wait for Oliver to come in. Which he seemed to, every time, without fail. Barry enjoyed being with someone without having to worry about keeping up the relationship. Granted, he did want something more from Oliver at some point, but for the time being, he was content with what he had.

“You know, you’ve been happier lately,” Patty commented from where she was making herself some coffee one morning. “Ronnie and I haven’t been able to figure out why, though.”

“Yeah, man, it’s kind of weird,” Ronnie said, smirking a little. “I mean, granted, you haven’t left the house any more than you already have, but you seem happier about your hermit status than you were previous.”

Barry just fondly rolled his eyes. “Okay, for one, I’m not a hermit, so if you could not call me that,” he said, laughing softly. “Secondly, I am a little happier. I can’t tell you why just yet. Because, quite frankly, I need to figure some things out a bit more first before I can gossip with you two hens.”

Patty just quirked an eyebrow, unfazed as she stirred her coffee and sat down in front of Barry. “I hope you know we expect you to tell us the details as soon as you do know. Because as nosey as Ronnie and I appear, we’re worried for you. You barely leave the house. That’s not very healthy.”

“Okay, okay, I will. I have to tell Iris, too, of course. I still have a scar from when she found out she was the last to realise I was going to the same college as her.”

Both Patty and Ronnie laughed. “Your best friend can be rather terrifying,” Ronnie commented.

“Right now, things are a bit complicated. But what’s going on is good for the both of us at the moment. If I ever choose to further it any more, then that’s a conversation for future Barry,” Barry said, sighing a little to himself.

“I hope you know what you’re doing, Barry,” Patty said seriously. “And that you’ll be safe about it.”

“I am, trust me.” Barry was fairly confident in Oliver. While the older man didn’t seem too willing to talk about anything personal, he _was_ a cop. Barry felt safe in his arms.

Patty soon left for class, and Ronnie left to meet up with Caitlin for breakfast. Barry himself didn’t have classes until later, and would usually spend the time studying or catching up on homework. Since he had neither, he sat on the couch and dragged up his laptop.

Pulling Facebook up, Barry searched for _‘Oliver Jonas’_ , but every search result came up empty for who he was looking for. He was starting to feel a bit rejected from not being able to find anything about his new lover, but he simply concluded that Oliver wasn’t much of a social media type of person. As it was, Barry only knew the man’s name and his age- _thirty-four (fourteen years old than Barry was)_ , but not much else. Oliver confessed he wasn’t too terribly high on the ladder when it came to his work, but he enjoyed it and didn’t regret it at all.

Closing out of the social media website, Barry set his laptop to the side with a soft sigh. There wasn’t much to do for him other than play games or binge watch _Ghost Whisperer_ for the umpteenth time (damn, he needed Netflix). It was one of the moments, again, that Barry wished Oliver had a cell phone. He desperately wished to be able to just text him or talk to him- anything, really- just so he wouldn’t have to sit home bored for the next couple hours.

Barry grabbed his phone and shot a text to Iris, not knowing what else to do.

**_[To: Iris  
Did Thea ever get in any trouble for the party she threw?]_ **

**_[From: Iris  
Nah. Her brother works in the police and he usually finds a way to let her off the hook]_ **

**_[To: Iris  
The mysterious brother Queen works for the police? That has to be a sight to see]_ **

**_[From: Iris  
Oh, it is. He looks good in a uniform]_ **

**_[To: Iris  
Haha, well can’t wait to see that!]_ **

**~*~**

Meeting up with Oliver slowly became a more and more regular thing. Ronnie was often at Caitlin’s, and Patty and Iris met up a lot on the weekends. Either party invited him along, not wanting him to stay at home alone, but Barry always brushed the invite off with some weak excuse. Then the moment the house was to himself, he’d flick on the light.

Being with Oliver made Barry incredibly happy. Not only was the man a great lover, but he was also sweet on him. There was one night where Barry convinced him to stay for dinner, and it felt so much like a date that it left Barry feeling light-headed.

It was nearing summertime, and Barry wasn’t too sure how often he’d get the house to himself as it approached. With classes being over for the season and not having a good excuse much anymore (or at least excuses that his friends bought), Barry was starting to feel disappointment creep up his spine.

One night, as the two men lay in bed together, Barry’s head resting on Oliver’s chest, he brought up the topic of his recent thoughts.

“So, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to keep this up through the summer,” he said, more to Oliver’s chest than anything else.

“Why do you think that?” Oliver asked, running a hand up and down Barry’s bare back.

Barry shivered before sitting up so he could look at Oliver. “Because I do have roommates, and none of us are taking summer classes, so. Plus, I’m not sure if my excuses will hold forever.”

“So...do you want to end what’s happening between us?” Oliver furrowed his eyebrows.

“No! No, I’m just...” Barry trailed off before roughly biting his lip bottom lip. “Look, I want to keep what’s between us going, but what if we just, I don’t know, started actually dating?”

Oliver looked like a deer in headlights for a moment, before shaking his head. “No, I, uh.” He cleared his throat before sitting up himself. “Look, I know it may seem a bit...weird considering my age, but I’m not exactly...out yet? Like my sister knows I’m into guys, but not anybody else. I’m just...I’m not quite ready to admit that out loud quite yet.”

“Oh, uh. Well, okay. I can’t exactly force you to come out,” Barry concluded. “But I do want to try this with you. Dating you instead of this friends with benefits thing we have going on. I want more with you, Ollie.”

Oliver let out a sigh before running a hand through his blond hair. It had gotten longer in the past few months, and Barry found he loved running his fingers through it more with it longer.

“Ollie, please,” Barry whispered, feeling his gut clench at Oliver’s silence.

“I can’t do this right now,” Oliver said suddenly. He stood off of Barry’s bed and got dressed hastily. “I’ll...I’ll get ahold of you or something later. Bye.”

“Bye,” Barry said softly, watching as Oliver left in a hurry.

Taking a shaky breath, Barry closed his eyes and just sat there. He suddenly felt stupid for even bringing it up in the first place. Barry had always been the type of person to wear his heart on his sleeve, and he had truly hoped he’d be able to keep his emotions out of it. But, like with everything else, he hadn’t been able to.

“I love you...” Barry said to the air, already knowing Oliver was long gone by the time he had the courage to utter the words.

**~*~**

Oliver was avoiding him, he was certain.

Ronnie and Patty had gotten suspicious when Barry suddenly stopped smiling as much and barely left his room. Every night, even when the two were home, Barry would leave the lamp on. Even though the two roommates thought it was odd behavior, they didn’t comment on it. Barry appreciated it, and all he really wanted to do was spend time with Oliver.

“Do you want to go to the bar?” Barry asked them randomly one night, startling the other two people in the living room.

“The bar? Since when have you been the drinking type?” Patty asked. Even though Barry was legally old enough to drink alcohol now, he didn’t do it often. The night of Thea’s party was the last time he had really drank more than normal.

“Yeah, well. I want to tonight. I was thinking that new gay bar?” Barry offered, feeling shy at the suggestion.

“Sorry, Bear. I’m leaving to go meet up with Caitlin’s family soon. They wanted to do some camping trip with everybody,” Ronnie said apologetically. “We’re leaving in the morning.”

“What about you, Patty?”

Patty looked conflicted, but she finally sighed after a moment. “Alright, I’ll go. Just give me time to get ready.”

“Thank you,” Barry said with a grin before letting her past to use the upstairs bathroom and get ready for the night.

When they made it to the bar, Barry felt a little bad for almost immediately ditching her as he headed towards the bar. He could practically feel her glaring daggers at his back, but he ignored it as he ordered a beer. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a couple watching him from not too far away. Before he could wonder too much, they were making their way over.

“Excuse me, you’re looking pretty lonely here at the bar,” the Latino man said, making Barry blush a little.

Barry laughed. “I just got here, but yeah, I am.”

“Do you want to dance?” the other one asked, quirking an eyebrow as he held out a hand towards Barry.

Throwing caution to the wind and not seeing the other man protest at the offer, Barry downed the rest of his beer before accepting the hand and allowing himself to be pulled onto the dance floor.

Hartley, as he soon learned, had come to the bar with his boyfriend, Cisco, looking for a willing threesome partner. Barry had giggled a little at that and had almost taken the men up on the offer. But his mind still wandered back to Oliver, despite the grinding he was doing against Hartley.

“Hey, man, you totally don’t have to come home with us tonight,” Cisco had told him as they stood at the bar. Patty had gone home once she realised Barry wasn’t going to give her the time of day anymore, and had left a very angry text on his phone about dragging her out and abandoning her the minute he stepped through the door. He had a lot to make up for that.

“Yeah, I know,” Barry replied, playing with his empty glass.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Hartley asked, rubbing Barry’s back.

“This guy I’m kind of seeing has been ignoring me. We had this great friends with benefits thing going on for a few months, but my heart decided to get involved. And when I told him how I felt, he took off and I haven’t heard from him since. It’s been, like, two weeks,” Barry explained, pouting a little. “And I really _really_ like him.”

“Why don’t you call him, then?” Cisco suggested, quirking an eyebrow.

“He doesn’t have a phone,” Barry replied glumly.

“What person in their twenties doesn’t have a cell phone?” Cisco joked.

“He’s not in his twenties, he’s in his thirties.” Barry sighed, and sat up more. “He’s a cop, so he usually swings by after his shift when I give him the okay. I leave this one lamp on and that’s his signal.”

“Do you have a picture of him? Guys are always cute in uniform,” Hartley said, wiggling his eyebrows playfully.

“I don’t have him in uniform, but I did sneak a picture of him once.” Barry pulled out his phone, smiling to himself as he opened the photo of Oliver. The man had was only in a pair of boxers, and he was standing in Barry’s kitchen drinking some tea Barry had made for them. He turned it to the other two and showed him. “That’s him.”

“Dude, that’s-” whatever Cisco had been able to say, he was suddenly cut off by a nearby person running into him and spilling their drink all over him. “What the hell?”

“Shit, sorry,” the man apologized, clearly not sorry at all.

Barry, wincing to himself, took that as his sign to leave, and slipped out the front door.

**~*~**

“What was even the point of you inviting me to go out for drinks when you bail on me the second we walk in?” Patty ranted to Barry the following morning. “I get that it’s a gay bar and you might want to get laid or something, but couldn’t you at least have waited maybe five minutes?”

“Patty, I’m sorry.” Barry put his hands on Patty’s shoulders, giving her a small smile as she calmed down. “It wasn’t my intention to leave you right away. We just got separated as I was heading to the bar.”

Patty stared at him a moment before crossing her arms. “What’s going on with you, Barry? You’re worrying everybody.”

Biting his bottom lip, Barry stared over at the lamp before sighing. He led Patty to the couch and they sat down. “I met someone at the party Iris dragged me to a few months ago. It was one of the cops that gave me a ride home. I think he wanted to sleep with me anyway because he kept giving me these looks, and then insisted he drive me home safely. Anyway, we slept together and I asked him if we could keep doing that. You know, just casual sex and whatnot. He agreed, and that was that.

“He doesn’t have a phone, so the way I tell him that it’s okay for him to come over is by leaving the lamp on. If it’s on, he can come in. If it’s off, it means he can’t. Usually, when it’s off, you and Ronnie are here. But you both also go out a lot, so it’s been on often.”

“Is that why you’ve been leaving it on?” Patty asked. She had let Barry grab one of her hands so he could play with her fingers as he talked.

“Yeah. Well, the reason I have been is because I think he’s been avoiding me. I asked him if we could take it further and just date because I… really like him and I kind of want to show him off, you know? And he told me he wasn’t out yet before storming out. I haven’t heard from him since.”

Patty was quiet as she took in the information. Biting her lip in thought, she suddenly sat up. “Hey, my uncle works in the police. Maybe he can talk to your guy. What’s his name?”

“Oliver Jonas,” Barry stated proudly.

Patty suddenly frowned. “Officer Jonas? Barry, he’s like forty, and he’s married with three kids. I don’t even think his first name is Oliver.”

“What? No… no, that can’t be.” Barry chuckled nervously. “I trust him, Patty. And he just turned thirty-four.”

“Barry-”

“Can we just not talk about this?” Barry’s voice was sharp, quickly silencing whatever Patty had been about to say. “Thank you.”

The following day, Barry found himself at home. His dad was at work yet, and his mom was watching a movie with him. Barry had missed spending time with his parents, so while he was a little bummed his dad wasn’t home, it only meant more time with his mom.

“Mom? Can I talk to you about something?” Barry asked a bit shyly.

“Of course.” Nora paused the movie before turning to Barry with a smile. “What’s up?”

“I, um. Well, I met this guy a couple months ago, and I thought we hit it off pretty well. He’s a cop, so we met when some girl’s party got crashed for being too loud. And we had a one-night stand, and it turned into this, like, casual meet-up for sex thing,” Barry rambled. “And anyway, after a few months of that, I’ve realised that I kind of want more than that? I told as much, and I just...I haven’t heard from him in like two weeks, Mom.”

“Oh, baby,” Nora said, pulling Barry close. Barry never felt awkward about talking about this type of thing with his mom. Nora always had a way of making him feel comfortable talking about things that may be weird to talk about with parents. “Why don’t you make the move, then? Try contacting him and see what happens.”

“He doesn’t have a phone, Mom. And he’s a lot older than me.”

Nora furrowed her eyebrows. “How much older?”

“He just turned thirty-four...”

Huffing softly, Nora lightly smacked Barry’s arm. “You always did like your men older, didn’t you?”

“Oh my god,” Barry said, laughing as he buried his face into the crook of his mother’s neck. “You know, these conversations aren’t that weird, all things considered, but you seem to find a way.”

“You’re taking care of yourself, right? You’re being responsible about this?”

Barry sat up and gave her a small smile. “Yeah, I am. I trust him, Mom. He’s...amazing. He’s sweet, and kind, and...”

“Sounds like you love him,” Nora teased playfully. “How much do you know about him?”

Barry stilled a little. “I, um. Not much. He’s a very private person.”

“Barry,” Nora scolded, a little taken aback. “You’ve been sleeping with him for months and don’t know much about him?”

“I know his name and age, and that he doesn’t own a phone,” Barry defended.

“He doesn’t? Barry, that doesn’t sound like the truth to me. Are you sure you’re being careful with this man?”

“Yes, Mom. I promise I am.” Barry bit his bottom lip. “You’re not, like, upset or anything about how things started between Oliver and I, are you?”

“I’m not exactly thrilled to hear it, but it’s your life, and I can’t stop you from living it.” Nora kissed Barry’s temple. “I’m just worried, is all. No parent wants to see their child _hurt_.”

**~*~**

Ronnie was still out camping with his girlfriend and her family, and Patty was off doing something for a few hours. Barry hadn’t seen Oliver in nearly a month, and he wasn’t sure if he could handle going any longer. He wanted an explanation, at the very least, as to why Oliver’s been avoiding him.

Letting out a shaky breath, Barry picked up his phone, and dialed 911.

 _“911, what’s your emergency?”_ the calm voice of the woman on the line answered with.

“Uh, yeah. I have a noise complaint,” Barry said, worrying the bottom of his shirt between two fingers. “I think the house next door is having a really loud party, and it’s getting rather bothersome.”

 _“Of course. What’s your address and we can send an officer on their way over,”_ the woman said.

Barry rattled off his address. He paused a minute before adding, “Can you send Officer Jonas to come look? I, um. I trust him the most, you know?”

The dispatcher was quiet a moment before she agreed and hung up. Barry was pacing in his living room as he waited for the officer to get to his house. He wished, with all of his being, that it would be Oliver on the other side of the door.

There was a sudden knock on the front door, making Barry almost jump out of his skin from the surprise. Opening the door, his heart dropped to his feet when a man clearly well into his forties was standing on the other side.

“There was a noise complaint?” he asked, his voice gruff.

“Uh, yeah. They, um, they must’ve heard me make the call and scattered. Everything’s alright now,” Barry quickly lied, trying to will away the feeling of tears that were threatening to spill.

Later that night, Barry left the lamp on like he usually did, but he wasn’t feeling too confident. Suddenly, to his surprise, there was a knock on the door. Furrowing his eyebrows, Barry walked over and opened the door. A sudden smile grew on his face and his heart raced when it was Oliver.

“Ollie! Come in,” Barry said, stepping to the side to allow Oliver to walk in. “I wasn’t really expecting you. I haven’t seen you in weeks.”

“I’m sorry,” Oliver apologized, sounding sincere. He pulled Barry into a kiss, the younger practically melting into the touch. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you, too. C’mon. The house is ours for the night.”

**~*~**

Ronnie was the one who found him.

Patty end up being out all weekend, and Ronnie came home on Monday to what he assumed was an empty house. When he noticed Barry’s door was cracked open, he peeked inside. Barry was completely still, lying on his back, making Ronnie initially think he was just asleep. But when Ronnie stepped closer and noticed the amount of blood coming from a wound on his neck, his blood ran cold, almost like ice flowing in his veins.

“Barry?” Ronnie asked, a bit uselessly as he started crying. Fumbling with his phone, Ronnie called 911 and it took everything in him to sound somewhat put together enough to tell the dispatcher everything he knew.

It wouldn’t be until later that family and friends would be told how and when Barry was killed.

Barry Allen was killed on Friday night. He was naked, and had been strangled before his throat was slit with a single cut. Almost like the killer was only doing it to make sure Barry was dead.

His mom collapsed on the spot when she was told her son was dead. Henry was in a state of shock, but he kept it together enough to hold his wife as she sobbed into his chest. Ronnie had been the one to find him, but it still hurt to hear it officially being told to him. Patty didn’t take it well, planning on dropping out of college and moving back home.

Iris, though, she took it just as bad as Nora did. She became a mess and didn’t leave the house during the entirety of the investigation.

The police didn’t have any leads. Any suspicions they had were all dismissed, or the people proving to be somewhere else at the time of murder. Plus, it was hard to fake the type of misery all Barry’s friends and family were showing.

They end up tracing Barry’s steps from the past few months. Iris had made an offhand comment about an officer taking Barry home alone a few months prior, but she couldn’t remember who. It was brushed off, for the most part, but still something to be considered.

Tracing Barry’s steps led to the gay bar Barry was at a week before his death. Cisco and Hartley were both brought in and cleared, but as Cisco went to leave, his eyes caught a suddenly familiar shade of blue.

“Wait, officer,” Cisco said suddenly, turning to look at Officer Gwen, who had been leading him out. Cisco had told them Barry had a lover that he was worrying over at the bar, but Barry never mentioned him by now. Seeing Oliver, however, suddenly brought up the memories. “I know who Barry’s lover is.”

“Who?” Officer Gwen asked, looking on edge at Cisco’s sudden memory.

“Oliver Queen,” he said, pointing to the officer that was talking to a witness from a recent break-in. “I remember because Barry showed us a picture. Barry didn’t seem to know who he is, and I was going to tell him, but then I got beer spilled on me. But I remember seeing his picture on Barry’s phone.”

Officer Gwen looked at him in shock. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

“Alright. Thank you.”

Cisco nodded and quietly left with Hartley. Officer Gwen was cursing and quickly jotting down everything Cisco had told her. She then walked over to a detective who was working on the case and gestured to talk to him in private.

“We have a witness who says he knows who Barry’s secret lover was,” she said. They were already aware of Barry’s hidden secret even before Cisco said anything. Nora and Patty had both rattled about how Barry was hiding somebody from them that he didn’t want them to meet yet. But this...this was the first time they had a name. “It’s Oliver Queen.”

“Oliver?” Joe West asked in shock, staring at said officer. “He’s married to Laurel and has a son, William, who’s going into eighth grade come autumn.”

“I know, but Mr. Ramon was insistent. Said Barry showed him a picture of Oliver.”

“Wait, picture? Have we checked Barry’s phone?”

“It wasn’t at the scene.”

“That’s weird. Iris told me Barry almost always has his phone on or near him. His phone should’ve been in his room,” Joe said, confused.

“It wasn’t, Joe. The entire room was searched. There was a charging cord, but no phone.”

“Weird. Thank you.”

Gwen nodded before walking off, leaving Joe alone with his thoughts, and more confused than before.

**~*~**

_“I love you, Ollie,” Barry whispered, kissing along Oliver’s jaw. They were lying in bed together, naked under the covers, and pressed as close to one another as you could humanly get. “I missed you so much these past few weeks.”_

_Oliver was quiet, running a hand up and down Barry’s back, humming in response. To him, Barry was supposed to be nothing more than somebody on the side to have sex with. All his life, he had spent resisting the urge to explore a part of himself he had been repressing. He didn’t mean for Barry to fall in love with him._

_That was a mistake that had to be fixed._

_Kissing the younger man as a distraction, Oliver moved Barry onto his back. He slowly slid a hand up around Barry’s throat. Barry himself didn’t to notice anything wrong, until Oliver pressed his hand down._

Waking up suddenly, Oliver’s eyes scanned his bedroom quickly. The clock on the nightstand read _3:17am_ , and his wife was still fast asleep on the bed next to him. Although, Laurel was starting to stir a bit as Oliver squirmed from where he was sitting.

Not wanting to wake her, Oliver slipped out of the bed and walked into the kitchen to grab a drink of water. Killing Barry was something that still was sitting in the back of his mind, and he knew it wouldn’t be long until his co-workers figured out it was him who committed the crime. Even the water seemed to be mocking him, tasting flat in his mouth and like swallowing a lump, but he downed the entire glass anyway.

Glancing out the window self-consciously, Oliver let out a soft sigh in relief when there wasn’t anybody hiding in the bushes, waiting to ambush him the minute he stepped foot out the door. Footsteps sounded behind him, causing him to quickly spin and startle Laurel, who had been shuffling into the living room where he was.

“Ollie, are you alright?” she asked, her voice still thick with sleep.

“Yeah. Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. That college kid’s murder, it’s shaken me up a bit. Don’t want them coming after William,” Oliver lied smoothly.

“Aw, Ollie.” Laurel wrapped her arms around Oliver and laid her head on his chest. Oliver wrapped his arms back around her, holding her close. “They’ll catch the killer, baby. You work for the police, you always get the bad guy.”

Oliver swallowed thickly, pressing a kiss to the top of Laurel’s head. “They always do,” he repeated quietly.

Ever since a young age, Oliver and Thea had always had it drilled into them that reputation was everything. If you did something that would smudge the perfect family picture, you were to do anything to fix it and make it right again. Oliver’s mother, Moira, had done it enough times with her children over the years, that all she had to do was slide an envelope to Oliver’s boss, and all charges would be dropped to whatever problem their family was dealing with. Part of the reason Oliver joined the police force was to help keep the image intact and mysteriously “lose” any files against either him or Thea constantly.

Laurel’s dad, Quentin, had worked in the force longer than Oliver could talk, so he was well aware of what the Queen family was up to, but he didn’t have any solid evidence. Every time there was, it would “mysteriously disappear”, and Quentin would be left empty handed once more. Laurel herself didn’t believe any of the stuff her dad would tell her, marrying Oliver anyway and causing a drift between the two. A part of Oliver felt guilty that he was fully aware her father’s suspicions were correct, and he was the reason for their distance. But, like always, he pushed the feeling down and went on his way.

Walking into work the following morning, Oliver felt like he was walking through a thick fog. People were tenser than normal, and seemed to be avoiding him at every turn. He continued to ignore it, however, and walked over to his desk.

“Officer Queen, may we have a word?” Joe asked, capturing Oliver’s attention.

“Yeah,” Oliver replied, ignoring the stares he felt on him as him and Joe walked into an interview room.

They sat down at the table, and Oliver schooled his features into calm mien. Joe sat a file down in front of him, an official interview report with Cisco’s name sticking out the top. Oliver glanced down at it before looking back up at Joe.

“We have a source claiming to see a photo of you on the victim’s phone,” Joe started, looking straight at Oliver.

Oliver already knew this, of course. He had found Barry’s phone after the man was already dead, and found a photo of him staring up back at him. It was the reason he took it with him. Currently, it was sitting at the bottom of his nightstand drawer, hastily covered with various things that Oliver had shoved into the drawer over the years. If one were to look, they’d find it easily enough.

“Is it true, Oliver?” Joe asked, breaking Oliver from his train of thoughts. “Were you having an affair with Barry Allen?”

Biting the inside of his cheek, Oliver weighed the options of either telling the truth or lying more in his head. Joe was watching him carefully, and he knew immediately his silence was more than answer enough.

“Lance is going to kill you, you know,” Joe stated flatly, putting together the files he had. Oliver breathed a silent breath of relief that he wasn’t being questioned further. He knew it wouldn’t be much longer until they were on his case for murdering Barry. “I don’t suggest you leave town.”

Oliver watched silently as Joe left the room. He sat there a minute before calming walking out. The stares were less subtle and more heated, and Oliver already knew Quentin was on his way to yell at him. When he had gotten to work, he didn’t even unpack his things before Joe called him aside. So he simply scooped up his bag and walked back out, avoiding any more confrontation for the day.

The house was empty by the time he got back home. Laurel was at work, Quentin probably calling and letting her know about Oliver’s cheating. William was at school, hopefully not finding out for a while about what his father did.

Paper and a pen weren’t hard to find as Oliver sat down at the table, already knowing what he wanted to write down. The soft scritch of the pen against the paper wasn’t an unpleasant noise as he wrote everything down to the people he wanted.

Laurel.

William.

Thea.

His parents.

_Barry._

The notes were decent sized, and he was content by the time he was done with them. Oliver knew his actions would be watched closely, and leaving work before even putting any hours in didn’t look good in the slightest. But, to be quite honest, he didn’t really feel like facing the firing squad that he was certain he was going to tomorrow.

After reading over each of the notes a handful of times and chewing the end of the pen until it was it was a gross mess of teeth impressions, Oliver was satisfied with how they sounded. His writing was messy and written quickly, riddled with errors and scribbles, but still legible.

“How could you?!”

Startled, Oliver looked up, seeing Laurel standing angrily in the doorway. Oliver glanced at the clock on the wall and realised Laurel had come home to yell at him on her lunch break.

“Oliver, I understand that you might have had...questioning feelings since we’ve been together since were sixteen,” Laurel continued, walking closer to Oliver. “But _cheating on me_ ? For _months_? Did you ever plan on telling me? No, wait, don’t answer that. Because I already know the answer to that: no, you wouldn’t. Because you will do anything to keep everything looking like it’s perfect, right? You would’ve continued living on like nothing was wrong, and I would be none the wiser.” It was then she noticed the folded letters sitting on the table. “What are these?”

“Nothing,” Oliver said quickly, grabbing them and standing up. “Look, I know you might never forgive me for cheating on you, but I truly am sorry. And I’m really sorry that you had to find out the way you did. But I always came home to you, Laurel. You’re the love of my life.”

Laurel let out a humorless laugh. “I have a hard time believing that now.” She then sighed softly. “Ollie, do you know how bad this looks? The guy you slept with ends up dead? I may be very upset with you, but I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“I know. We’ll work through this, okay? For William.”

“For William,” Laurel agreed. “I have to get back to work.”

“Have a good day.”

Laurel gave him a tight smile before leaving the house. Oliver was left alone once more, looking at the letters in his hands.

**~*~**

Even though it was to be expected in a town as small as his, word moved fast. Soon enough, everybody knew that Oliver had slept with the now dead man, and glared at him whenever he passed by. It had been on the news _“Officer Oliver Queen had an affair with college student”_ and everybody was interested in it. Moira had sent him an “I’m disappointed” text, but otherwise didn’t talk to him. Thea was angry, coming over and yelling at him in front of both Laurel and William. By that point, William had already been told about his dad’s unfaithfulness and tended to stick close to his mom.

Oliver had a target on his back, and it was making him jumpy.

Barry had been dead for weeks, and Oliver had avoided the cemetery as much as possible. Rumors were flying around the town that Oliver was the murderer, and the police were so close, they were breathing down his neck.

Oliver was getting desperate, and the letters were burning holes in his pocket. After knocking on the captain’s door, Oliver walked to his boss’s desk and let out a shaky breath. “Can I ask you something?”

Singh quirked an eyebrow. “It depends,” he answered, leaning back in his chair. “What do you want?”

“Can you keep an eye on Laurel and William?” he asked, confusing Singh further. “You...they deserve better than me.” With that, he turned on his heel and left the building.

Oliver left the letters on the dining room table. They were all laid out with each person’s name face up, so people could see who they were meant to be for. With that, he left and went to the nearest Queen Consolidated building, and went to the roof.

In all honesty, Oliver hadn’t been anticipating anybody to find him up there. He had made no mentions of his intentions, just went to the roof with having no intentions of walking back down. So there he stood, on the ledge looking down, as cops poured out onto the floor behind him.

“Oliver Queen, we know you killed Barry,” an officer said. Oliver could recognize the voice as Joe’s. He figured he’d be the one to solve Barry’s murder. Barry was Iris’s childhood best friend. “We need you to step down.”

“Not going to do that, detective,” Oliver said, not even bothering to deny the fact that he killed Barry. They had all the evidence, anyway. “How’d you find me, anyway.”

“The letters on the table. Laurel also mentioned you had keys into this building since you pop in here every so often. It wasn’t hard to put two and two together,” Joe explained.

Oliver looked down at the people below him. They were starting to catch attention. It wasn’t every day that you saw someone standing on the edge of a building. He wanted something quick, not this. It was the only way to fix the stain he had brought onto his family’s name.

“Oliver, get off the ledge.”

“I fucked up, Joe. I need to make things right,” Oliver replied.

“That doesn’t have to be done by dying, Oliver, and you should’ve learned that lesson before you killed Barry.” Joe’s voice was steady, and Oliver could hear him slowly get closer.

“Don’t get any closer, or I’ll jump,” Oliver warned, glancing over his shoulder and confirmed his suspicions of Joe trying to get close.

The footsteps stopped, and Oliver smirked a little. It dropped quickly, though, and he looked back down at the ground below him.

Oliver didn’t back down for about two hours. He could tell people were starting to lose hope at getting him to come down. Eventually he did, but he still faced the streets, and the large amount of people that had collected. Turning a little, he stared at the cops that were on the roof with him, staring at each of them.

“He shouldn’t have fallen in love with me. The minute he did, his fate was sealed,” he stated. A gun shot rang out, and Oliver was suddenly crying and clinging his shoulder. The other cops looked around before noticing Joe had his gun drawn, and pointed at Oliver.

Joe glanced at the other cops before walking forward and cuffing Oliver, not caring much of Oliver’s shot shoulder as he led the man down to the cop car waiting at the base of the building.

Groups of people had gathered to watch Oliver Queen get arrested, knowing he was guilty of cheating, but now being confirmed for murder, as well. Oliver was well aware his mother would more than likely never send him a lawyer since his crime was too big a stain to just sweep under the rug. And given his actions, he highly doubted his wife would ever defend him in court. Basically, he was fucked, and he knew that.

**~*~**

The trial itself was rather quick. There was too much evidence stacked against him (finding Barry’s phone in his nightstand didn’t help him any) for there to be any doubt that it wasn’t him. Barry’s friends and family stared angrily at him during the whole process, none feeling any sort of guilt at anything Oliver was going through.

The jury only needed twenty minutes to declare him guilty. Oliver was surprised it took them that long. He was getting life in prison with no possibility of parole. All the people who knew Barry cheered at the fact, and celebrated in Oliver being put behind bars.

All the people who knew Oliver said nothing. Laurel and William were crying, but they knew it was what Oliver deserved. Moira and Robert didn’t even bother to show up, sending the message of disownment without saying anything. Thea, however, was crying as well, but she stood up, wanting to hug her brother. She was discouraged to, and Laurel had to hold her back so she wouldn’t follow after her brother.

News of the trial quickly spread, and Oliver became a hated man by many. It honestly hadn’t been his intention to make the news quite so big, but with a name like _Queen_ , it was bound to happen whether he liked it or not. By the time he made it to the prison, everybody knew what Oliver Queen had done.

Oliver barely made it four months before he was killed in a prison riot.

_“Nothing hurts more than realising he meant everything to you, but you meant nothing to him.”_

**_Barry Henry Allen_ **

**_March 14, 1997-June 15, 2018_ **

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments are much appreciated!! (:
> 
>  
> 
> [my tumblr](http://lovelylerman.tumblr.com)  
> [my instagram](http://instagram.com/olivxrry)


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